But for tonight's Nets-Detroit Pistons NBA regular-season opener — the first for the Nets in their temporary Prudential Center home in Newark — fans who know where to look online can find a $200 list-price ticket for $50, a $40 ticket for $10, or a $20 ticket for an amazing 47 cents.

There are additional "convenience" fees in many cases, you'll pay about $25 for a good parking spot if you drive to the game, and the big discounts don't apply to concession stands. But even so, these prices could prove right for many fans.

The discounts for the $200 and $40 Nets tickets were found on a site called TravelZoo.com, which boasts 21 million subscribers.

Fred Mangione, the Nets' senior vice president for ticket sales/marketing, said that "about 80 percent" of NBA teams work with TravelZoo.

"We provide them with about 100 or so tickets per game," Mangione said. "It's just a chance to hit a platform of new people we might not find otherwise and get some new prospective names and other data."

But the Nets don't discount most seats below the season-ticket price for the same section, Mangione said. An upper-level seat near the baselines, for instance, is $38 per game for season-ticket holders but lists as $66 for single-game purchase. That leaves the Nets plenty of room to discount for the latter buyers when lackluster opponents are coming to town.

The biggest bargains — such as the 47-cent seats — often are found on the "secondary market," such websites as StubHub.com, SeatGeek.com or Ticketsnow.com.

"We don't put those out there, so it must be ticket holders trying to get some of their money back," Mangione said, adding that some NBA teams have hired analysts to focus specifically on the secondary market.

Glenn Lehrman, a StubHub spokesman, said that it is not uncommon for pro basketball, hockey and baseball tickets to list under $1 on the website.

"Sometimes, it's a game that's near a holiday, or you see it once a team has been eliminated from contention," Lehrman said. "But opening night for most franchises, you wouldn't expect to have to paper the house. The Nets are kind of an anomaly."

Even more expensive seats are often the subject of big discounts. A midcourt seat 20 rows back for tonight's Nets-Pistons game that listed for $225, could be had for $38 on StubHub on Tuesday. Insist on the first-row seat? Pay $125 for a seat listed at $250.

If you've given up on seeing the Nets face LeBron James and the much-heralded Miami Heat in Newark on Sunday afternoon, maybe you shouldn't — tickets listed at $20 were going for $22 Tuesday, a modest $2 scalp.

Mangione said sports franchises try to strike a balance between convenience-minded, affluent fans and bargain hunters who know that supply and demand often tip heavily in their favor in this economy.

"A lot of customers are now well-educated on the variations in ticket pricing," Mangione said. "We have other customers who tell us that they would rather pay full value to be able to have that seat locked in for the prime games."

Mangione added that the season-ticket holders tend to get the best seats in a given section, and a relationship with the team can lead to perks that other fans wouldn't receive. These include the option to buy extra tickets at the lower season-ticket price, access to the arena a half-hour early, and admission to such events as Meet the Nets Night or player autograph sessions.

Fans looking for the lowest sports ticket prices, meanwhile, are like airline passengers who are willing to take a 6 a.m. flight or sit in a middle seat to get a good price.

"The way the world is going is variable pricing, with games at different prices," Mangione said. "It's like the stock market."

Even the Rangers, legendary for the loyalty of their fans, see a significant softening in price of about 50 percent for less-desirable games. A review of Knicks and Devils off-peak games reveals slightly higher average discounts than for Rangers games.

Rich Krezwick, president of Devils Arena Entertainment, said that many hockey and basketball teams dump excess ticket inventory to the secondary ticket market themselves. The Devils do not, he added.

"We want the season-ticket holder to get the best discounts," Krezwick said.